Japanese Lessons
by Bored and Lazy
Summary: Japanese had always soothed Tosh. As life at Torchwood progresses she gave each of her colleagues some lessons.


There was always something calming about writing Japanese. Whether it was at home in her, admittedly rare, free-time with her calligraphy brush and the ink her mother sends over or just post-it notes, hastily scribbled to herself. More times then she was willing to admit she had accidentally sent a memo or some sort of reminder to a co-worker in Japanese. She always wrote her weekly letters to her family on proper calligraphy paper, with her beautifully maintained brush and the ink she always keeps topped up. Only once had she made the mistake of trying to write her letter at the HUB and she could honestly say she would never do that again, no matter how busy she was. She didn't even want to think about how Ianto had managed to get the rest of the ink off Myfanwy.

She remembers the first time she taught Jack Japanese – after all what else are two insomniacs supposed to do. This was the second night after he'd freed her from UNIT and they hadn't found her a house yet. As such she was sleeping in the HUB for a while and, after waking up from her third nightmare in as many hours, she had given up and started walking around. The sound soon drew Jack who had apparently given up on sleeping. After a stilted conversation he had asked her what her nightmare was about. This had triggered anxious Japanese muttering as she tried to stop the memories of the small cell. After he had calmed her down he made a flippant comment on how he had always planned on learning Japanese. Once she had finally realised that he wasn't joking she started, slowly, to teach him. He never really got the hang of it – and to this day he can barely stutter through the basics. However these impromptu late night lessons did their duty as she got closer to Jack and more likely to speak her mind – at least to him on his own.

She only taught Gwen a few times – during the first days when she had been mostly likely to teach Gwen, Gwen had instead found release in her affair with Owen. After Owen stopped the affair Gwen seemed to realise how lucky she was and she found her comfort at her house with her fiancé, especially after Jack had left. They had a short lesson after Owen had had to euthanise that poor creature – when Gwen was in turmoil about whether or not to retcon Rhys. She had expected that to be their last but Gwen still wanted to shield him from the darker parts of Torchwood, meaning that after especially awful days – such as when they barely managed to save that poor little boy from the Night travellers - they had short lessons, after which Gwen would thank her and rush home to see her husband. Their longest lesson by far was after Gwen has discovered Flat Holm, although it had quickly deteriorated to Gwen crying while she whispered soothing Japanese words in Gwen's ear.

Her favourite student by far had been Ianto. She had felt awful after the discovery of Lisa in the basement, and to this day she was the only person to call her by her name. She and Jack were the only ones to visit Ianto during his suspension, and while she still did not know what happened during Jack's visits she knew that,contrary to Gwen and Owen's suspicions, nothing sexual – or even vaguely romantic had happened during that time. But during her visits she had taught him Japanese – in the hope that it would sooth him, as it soothed her. To her surprise she learnt he had a natural flair for the language. He learnt a lot during that period, and when he came back to work they never fully stopped their lessons. After a busy day she would occasionally point at an object and tell him it's Japanese name, and if Owen had been particularly oblivious or if Gwen had been unintentionally cruel he would mutter either soothing words or uncomplimentary comments about them in Japanese to her. After certain awful events – such as the cannibals and when Mary left – they would sit together and speak Japanese. But after Jack left they started up their lessons again in earnest. During those awful months they would be the ones to sit late at night in the HUB, waiting for Jack and looking after the rift, because Owen was trying to loose himself and his guilt in some girl he picked up and Gwen was trying to 'hold onto her life' as Jack had always said. They would sit next to each other and eventually she taught him how to write Japanese. He was the only one to have progressed that far, and he picked it up very quickly. They started sending each other memos in Japanese – originally just to practise but soon the looks of confusion and irritation on their co-workers faces became reason enough. Once Jack came back they stopped as Ianto wasn't alone any more. He always made sure they had at least one evening together a week, although as often as not Jack would tag along. But after bad days they would still meet up and talk. Often they would discuss the most ridiculous things in Japanese just to tease the others and laugh at their irritation at not understanding.

She also taught Owen. When he had first joined she offered a couple of times, but after being glared at or ignored she gave up. But whatever had happened, when he turned up at her house in the middle of the night, two nights after he had died she couldn't turn him away. However during the lesson she had, to her embarrassment, fallen asleep in the middle of a sentence. He readily admitted (to himself only) that he was surprised at himself when he carefully picked her up and put her in her bed, taking off her slippers and covering her carefully with her blankets. He had been even more surprised when, instead of the crushing boredom he had felt during the last two nights he had felt peaceful as he sat next to her bed. The rest of the night passed quickly, in an almost trance-like state. After this discovery their lessons became a nightly occurrence which soon progressed to them taking turns in making her dinner and spending the evenings together. Without speaking about it they moved in together as Owen realised that the only person who could make the nights go more quickly was Tosh.

Given more time they would have finally admitted that they were in love. Given time they would have managed to find a way to deal with the fact that Owen was dead. Given time she would have helped him heal. Given time they would have given themselves completely to each other. But time and the universe were not on their side and their lessons were cut short.


End file.
